


Enamoured Silence

by PlaguedParadox



Series: The Silent Courier [4]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arcade becomes confused about his feelings, Courier's real name is revealed, Implied Sexual Content, Muteness, good karma courier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 07:56:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14444799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlaguedParadox/pseuds/PlaguedParadox
Summary: The courier is a massive flirt and Arcade gets concerned about the jealousy he's feeling.





	Enamoured Silence

The Mojave was not typically a place for romance but the courier was, the woman was a known flirt and practically no one was safe. A typical target for the woman’s flirty behaviour was the Garret twins at the Atomic Wrangler in Freeside as it was a good way to get cheaper or even free booze. Luckily Pandora had a certain way of flirting that didn’t require speech but she still held a decent conversation with the twins in her mute state. Another target of her continuous flirting was Swank at the Tops Casino on the Strip, it never really went anywhere with him but it was a good way of collecting caps as he claimed that he wanted her to treat herself to stuff. She usually just bought stimpaks, however.

Strangely enough, an accidental target was Boone. Pandora was a natural flirt and it was something that helped make her a compelling leader but it was often hard to tell when she was genuinely being purposely flirtatious or was just speaking. Her actions typically lead to the sniper being oddly red in the face but he was quick to brush it off. Despite all her flirting, and what came from the flirting, no one could figure out why she never had a significant other or so much as kept up a relationship but it wasn’t as if the courier minded. She had her friends to keep her company and that’s all she needed, or so she’d say when people asked why she wasn’t in a relationship. Truth was that she was very much in love but she wouldn’t admit it, her love wouldn’t see her the same way and she was well aware of that fact so she just went on living her life.

The Atomic Wrangler was bustling as always with gamblers and alcoholics enjoying themselves doing their favourite activities. The courier had been banned from gambling at the casino, and every other open casino in the Mojave and areas surrounding, ages ago but it didn’t stop her playing a friendly game of blackjack with James as the dealer, which the pair had a habit of turning it into a drinking game - a drink for every time Pandora got an Ace and a face card, or commonly known as a blackjack. Lady Luck was only ever on the courier’s side in the casinos. Either way, Pandora was glad she had a tab and a good friendship with the twins after every game. “So, you got your eye on anyone?” The male Garret spoke, shuffling the cards to prepare for another round that he knew he was probably going to lose. Pandora was used to this question as he asked it roughly once a week, Arcade joked about how James was asking because he was interested but Pandora usually just dismissed the question and idea for two clear reasons. One, she had feelings for someone else which was a well-known fact despite no one knowing who she had feelings for. And two, she knew full well that James had a robot fetish, after all, she was the one who had to find Fisto. Pandora shivered slightly at the thought but quickly shook her head to answer James’s question.

“She never does, James,” Francine spoke up from her spot at the other end of the bar, she disapproved of James slacking off to play his new favourite drinking game but his odd friendship with the courier made him happy so she couldn’t complain. She also couldn’t blame him for the odd bond the two had, it kept the courier coming back which meant more caps for the Wrangler, that and she also enjoyed the attention she received when the courier was buying drinks. “Though Santiago certainly has his eyes on her.” The female Garret spoke out, the trio’s eyes landing on the male escort who promptly winked at the courier making her shiver in disgust. It was certainly no secret that she despised the man’s actions, she would have asked Old Ben to be an escort for the place but she wanted him to enjoy his retirement and instead would pay for his room in the Atomic Wrangler so he didn’t have to stay outside next to the gate that leads to the Strip. Plus, the aged flirt had his own way of paying her back for the help. The courier sighed and just flipped the over-ambitious escort off before returning her attention back to the twins, gesturing to them that she wanted to write something down. James left and came back with a clipboard, something that seemed to be everywhere in the wasteland, and a pencil before returning back to shuffling the cards.

 _I stopped looking for someone a long time ago._ She wrote, her odd cursive gave the twins some trouble when they tried reading her message but they quickly understood what she wrote. “She just spends all her time flirting instead.” A voice sounded out behind her before she noticed that someone moved to sit next to her. His nature and battle damaged lab coat gave him away before his hair and glasses did. The doctor had just come out from her room in the Wrangler as he claimed he needed to wash up after their small trip scavenging for materials and caps which left the pair of them covered in Mojave dust and grime. Arcade gave his courier a small smile before asking the female twin for a drink as he knew that the courier wasn’t going to move away from her spot until she was either drunk or someone was lucky enough to be dragged to her room which was usually a random escort or gambler that so happened to try and talk to her while she was tipsy as she practically refused to sleep with someone unless there was some alcohol in her system.

The Follower had spoken to the other companions about it and Cass’s suggestion that the courier feeling guilty about sleeping with others because she was in love made the most sense. Arcade was mostly just curious about who the courier could even be in love with, and he doubted he could be blamed for thinking it was Boone who the silent woman pined after considering her habit of flirting with the man but then again the courier also flirted with him but would always quickly apologise as she remembered his orientation. She always looked so ashamed of herself and in all honesty, Arcade felt ashamed of himself for enjoying her flirting and the fact he got rather jealous when she spent her time giving her attention but he chalked it up to the fact they were usually rather dependent on each other and he was just being overly protective of his best friend. But as he watched Pandora and James subtly flirt with each other as they played and drank, he felt a sick feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. Arcade quickly scooped up his bottle of booze and took a swig, his throat burned as the strong liquid slid down and spread warmth around his body, soothing the sick feelingly only slightly. The doctor groaned quietly to himself, not entirely enjoying the burn but certainly enjoying the distraction.

Soon enough the courier got drunk enough to forget her guilt and was soon dragging a lucky gambler to her room, much to Arcade’s disgust as he didn’t want people touching his courier. The doctor shook his head in shame once the thought came to his head, he knew it wasn’t healthy to be possessive of someone, let alone someone you weren’t even in relationship with, but he couldn’t help it, not with everything they went through, he couldn’t risk losing her in any sense. Sounds of the courier’s current activity fluttered into the main area but were muffled, something Arcade was glad about, he didn’t think he could stomach actually hearing that. Alcohol was quick to burn the Follower’s throat as he took another gulp of the clear liquid. Vodka wasn’t usually his first choice in booze but he did know it was the quickest to affect him. The doctor cleared his throat to try and alleviate the burning sensation as he reached down into his pocket to grab some caps to pay for the next bottle only to freeze once he realised that he had left his caps in Pandora’s room with the rest of their gear. Arcade groaned to himself once again as his head fell onto the bar, he had a few options here: Try and see if he could get a free drink, leave the Wrangler for a bit and wait for the courier to be finished or he could walk to the room and try and grab the caps, all while attempting to ignore the woman and her current bed partner. All were valid options until he started to weigh them out. He wasn’t going to leave the courier somewhere without a trusted companion nearby, he knew his attempts at a free drink would be turned down and he needed more than one drink for this and finally, he didn’t want to see his courier in bed with another person.

The Garrets tried to ask the doctor what was wrong but all they got was more pitiful groaning in response which flared their annoyance at the man. Arcade quickly made up his mind and climbed up the stairs of the Atomic Wrangler, ignoring the growing noise coming from the room he was going to sneak in to. The doctor gulped as he slowly opened the door, crouching and activating a stealth boy that the courier always seemed to sneak into his pocket. Sneaking into the room, he kept his gaze away from the bed even keeping an eye closed so he didn’t have to see anything through his peripheral vision as he slowly made his way over to his handmade pouch of caps. Getting to the bag was the easy part, however. Getting the bag out of the room without the caps making a noise proved to be more difficult because as soon as he moved the pouch an inch the metal inside scraped together and caused the pair on the bed to stop their actions. “What was that?” The random gambler, who Arcade immediately hated, called out to which the courier shrugged in response before moving to shift off of the bed to try and look. Arcade was quick to leave the room, clutching the pouch tightly so the caps inside couldn’t move around.

Once the Follower was back to the bar he deactivated the stealth boy and sat down on a stool, immediately dropping some caps into Francine’s hand and downing the bottle that landed into his. Arcade was a jealous man whether he wanted to admit it or not, he wasn’t even comfortable with the other companions touching his courier. The sick feeling in his stomach grew once again as he saw a dishevelled Pandora make her way over, the gambler sticking to her side the way Arcade usually did but instead of it being for both of their protection, it just made the person look like a lost puppy. The courier introduced the gambler to the doctor but he didn’t care, it wasn’t as either of them would remember the stranger’s name in the long run. A sick thought crawled its way into Arcade’s head which made him flinch inwardly as he watched the courier begin her usual flirtatious routine with James once again. ‘If Pandora was a guy, would I see this situation the same way?’ He knew that he had uttered the lines ‘Overt flirtation will get you everywhere, you know.’ to the red-headed courier which betrayed him, so he didn’t understand why he was having such a weird reaction to it. Was it really because she wasn’t paying him attention? Or was there something else?

Pandora looked over from her flirtatious acts with the male Garret twin to see her beloved medic lost in thought that seemed to trouble him as his eyebrows were creased and a large frown pulled at his lips. She tapped his arm gently, making him jump as his thoughts were broken and his attention dragged over to her. _Are you okay, Cade?_ He nodded in response to her question before looking away from her which made her huff in frustration. The courier was usually a patient woman until it came to Arcade’s stubbornness. She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him out of the Wrangler, not listening to his complaints as she pulled him into the Strip and up to the Lucky 38 before shoving him into the elevator. _What’s going on, Gannon?_ Arcade flinched at that, she rarely used his last name and the fact she felt like she had to was worrying to the doctor. “Nothing’s wrong-” He was cut off by her glare. Pandora sighed and pressed the button that would take them to the presidential suite where she knew some of the companions likely were, she knew that she’d need some help she just wasn’t sure who was going to be the most helpful.

Once they arrived at the floor, the courier sprinted out and went searching for one of her humanoid companions only to find Boone. Pandora cringed slightly as Arcade and Boone were two different kinds of difficult and she wasn’t sure if he’d be any help at all considering he wasn’t really the emotional type, it took her months and months before he even opened up to her and considering Arcade was pretty distant too. Pandora shook her negative thoughts away and grabbed the sniper’s arm. ‘It’s better than nothing.’ The courier’s thoughts chirped as she stood between the two companions and gestured that Arcade wasn’t telling her something. Boone’s eyes narrowed at the doctor before asking the courier for some privacy which she reluctantly gave. Boone pulled the doctor back into the elevator and pressed a random floor just in case the courier decided to eavesdrop. “You’re not telling her something, huh? I thought you two were impossibly close.” The sniper stated, leaning against the elevator wall as he waited for it to reach the destination. “So, what’s going on?”

Arcade sighed and leaned against the wall opposite the sniper, rubbing his eyes from under his glasses before repositioning them back into place. “I… I don’t know, honestly. I mean… I’m worried about losing her, I suppose.” He crossed his arms before continuing. “She’s always off doing something or flirting with someone and it’s worrying because anything could happen!” The doctor sighed before shifting uncomfortably against the wall. “Admittedly, I think I’m jealous, which is weird because I’m not attracted to women but at the same time it’s not weird, I think... because she’s important to me.”

“So, you like her?” Boone simply asked, causing a blush and confused look to cross Arcade’s face. “That’s what it sounds like. You’re jealous because you like her and it feels weird because she’s, well, a she. I may not be too great with communicating anymore, but I did help several members of the NCR with problems like this. You never know, you might just like both.” He shrugged before walking out onto the penthouse floor. “Not saying it’s certainly that, it’s just one thing that could be a thing.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t look too much into it, amigo.” Raul’s voice spoke up from where he was sitting in the penthouse overlooking the Strip. “Whatever it is you’re talking about. I just know it’s best to go with what you’re given.” The pre-war ghoul advised, fixing his hat as he did. “She’s not going to be happy that a secret is being kept from her, you know that right?” Raul asked out, recalling the dark look on her face when she found out someone had kept information away from her for their gain. The ghoul stood from his spot in the penthouse and made his way over to the humans. “It would be best if you two talked it out, we don’t want her walking off on her own again.” Raul’s words made Arcade’s blood freeze as the doctor recalled the fights they’ve had.

A grimace covered the Follower’s face as he heard the other two companions start to talk about all the times the courier and doctor fought and how injured the courier would be once she came back. He knew why they were bringing it up. Soon the sound of the elevator moving and opening broke the conversation up, the elevator doors opened up to reveal the light haired courier, helping Veronica carry in hunks of scrap metal and electronics which the pair would usually mess with. Pandora waved at the rest of her companions before finding a place to put down the junk in her arms, once the junk was placed down she ran over to Arcade, wrapping her arms around one of his and pulled him close, giving him pleading puppy eyes to silently beg for him to tell her what was wrong. Arcade sighed before nodding, pulling the courier back into the elevator shortly afterwards and selecting the presidential suite as he knew that most of the companions almost immediately headed to the penthouse rather than where they slept.

Once they got to the courier’s room, Arcade plopped down her bed as he began to think things over, groaning slightly as his hands ran through his hair and tugged at it slightly. This situation frustrated him heavily as flashes of all the times his courier dragged people off to a private room, his teeth gritted as he remembered the sick feeling that would always arise. “Why…?” His voice barely came out but it still destroyed the silence that had previously filled the room. The doctor’s eyes opened slightly to see the woman looking at him, eyes filled with concern and confusion. “Why are you making me feel this way?” He spoke softly as he recalled all the time she flirted with him and how his heart seemed to flutter every time she was affectionate towards him. “I shouldn’t feel this way. I shouldn’t…” Arcade froze as he realised the words that were so close to slipping off of his lips. “I’m not even worth all your attention, I’m boring.” He deflected, self-deprecating words falling from his mouth like second nature. He hated getting personal but there was something about his courier that just seemed to make him open up. Pandora sat down next to the distressed man and pulled him into a tight hug, her chest aching at his words as she had a good idea about what he was going to say. She didn’t need to hear it.

The two held the embrace for a while before pulling away and watching each other's expressions closely, their cheeks flushed as they maintained eye contact. “Pan…” The doctor started before he froze up once again, his cheeks darkening with scarlet as he considered his next words. “I… I think I have feelings for you? I'm so confused...” He admitted before burying his head in the crook of her neck. Pandora sighed and rubbed his back gently before tracing her real name out on his back, leaving a small wait time between the names. “V...E...R...A…...R...E...E...D.... Vera Reed? Who’s that?” The man questioned, pulling away slightly to see the courier point to herself. “Your name is Vera?” The courier nodded in reply before pulling away further to sign that she likes her new name better but she felt as if she should at least tell him considering their mutual feelings before giving him a small peck on the cheek and leaving the room so her medic could get a moment of privacy with this thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a footnote here. Pandora and Arcade don't and won't end up together, this experience just makes them cling to each other a lot more. Arcade is still gay in this canon but if he had to choose an exception it would be Pandora, he's just confused and he's allowed to be. Pandora has done so much for him and they're so attached to each other that it is going to make him question some things.


End file.
